Sunday, May 16, 2010

Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon – Relay Report

We rolled out at 5:00 this morning – Nigel, Jeff and me – headed for Morgan Hill for our sprint triathlon. I did this whole race 2 years ago, 2 weeks after Wildflower, so it was fun to revisit the course with a new twist as we would constitute a relay team. Nigel did the 0.75 mi swim, Jeff did the 16-mi bike and I did the 5-mi run.

The nice thing about local races is seeing so many friends! Jenn was racing this as her 2nd tri and Melissa came out to watch/cheer.

The relay wave went last, just before the elite men came back in off the bike. We saw Nigel off and then got a front row view of the race from transition as we waited for him to return from the swim.

Beating his goal time, Nigel came running into transition and we got his chip on Jeff and sent him off!

Biking from behind the rest of the field, Jeff passed tons and tons of people on his way to a great bike time! He really pushed hard and deserved those beers when he was done. When he got back I was off on the run, hoping to beat my 5-mile time from this race 2 years ago. The course is a simple out and back on the main road, which was great to see everyone ahead and cheer for friends like Jenn who were out running before me.

I think I was letting the guys know Jenn was going to be coming up soon as I’d just passed her 1/4 mile before.

I was quite pleased to beat my old time for this course and by nearly 3 minutes! But the best part of the day was definitely having fun with 2 of my training buddies.

And yeah…I PRed again. I’m on a streak this year. I know it will end but I’m certainly going to enjoy it while it lasts :-) Suffice it to say, I am definitely having fun with this developmental year after Ironman.

I think it’s safe to say I took it “easy” this week (and missed several workouts). Work was really overwhelming after my trip to Tennessee and I just couldn’t get much done. I suppose the upside is I was well rested for the race!

Next up I’ve got a bigger week to get back on track and I’m looking forward to some interesting workouts as part of that!